How do you sign photos for print sale?

I am listing photos for sale on FAA. I am only selling printed photos, not digital copies. Do you still sign your work with the copyright symbol, year and signature....? Or, do you just sign your name?

Lucy, FAA does all the printing and fulfillment, so there's no way to physically sign the prints before they reach the customer... unless you are placing the orders for customers, having the prints come to you and then you're shipping them back out.

I'm not sure I've heard of anyone placing a digital "signature" or watermark on an image file that will then be sold and printed for customers.

Max

Definitely sign your work.

Basically do what Max said, have orders shipped to you for inspection, approval and artist's authentication (which is verified by your signature). Not should you do this, but list that as a major attribute in your description... "all prints are shipped to me first for inspection, approval and authentication by my signature", something like that. Here's a decent guideline I found that lists some great Dos and Don'ts regarding signatures. It was written for painters but it still applies. It should answer your question about what and how to sign. The signature is so important to validate the artwork.

Also head over to the website of our own Alain Briot, he talks about the best ways to sign and present your images in practically everything he writes, I bet a search on his site (or even Google) should bring back a boatload of his thoughts on it. Him and his wife are the benchmark for marketing and presenting fine art images IMO.

BTW, there a wedding photographer named Joe Buissink who only shoots weddings for celebrities in the movie and music biz. In addition to his five-figure fee to shoot, he also offers 13x19" prints to his clients, nicely printed on fine art rag or matte paper, printed smaller with a two inch border to leave room for a signature. He sells his images for $250 unsigned, or $500 signed. Sixty percent of his clients buy them signed. Yes, they are people in Hollywood with bucks, but the point is, look how much they value the artist's authentication, wowie! So yes, do some research and see how people are signing their prints and see which way appeals to you, and make that part of your brand.

Just for interest's sake, not saying this is the best way, but I sign my prints in the bottom right edge border (I never print borderless) with pencil and put the year right after it. When it gets matted that gets covered but is there as validation in case the print is rematted later. Then I sign the matte in pencil in the bottom right just under the picture's border, again with the year, and then I usually put the location on the left side for the viewer's info. I only put the nearest city and state, not the name of the place. So a canyon shot at Colorado National Monument would simply say "Grand Junction, CO" (or "Fruita, CO" if the shot was from that end of the monument). That's just one way to do it. For print-only sales where the image is printed on a coated stock such as a fine art baryta or luster-style like Ilford's Gold Fibre Silk (yes, I have 30 million dollars worth of paper in my house, lol!), I sign just name and year on the print in the bottom right using Faber-Castell Gold 250 PITT artist's pen which is acid-free. If I have to sign right on the image itself then I prefer to replicate the signatures by the portrait artists who signed their prints that way 50-70 years ago. I saw this doing some restoration work on a portrait from 1943 for a client and fell in love with the look.

SO, there's some ideas. There's no one rule but you want to make it your style and not too distracting. I'm sure this was way more info that you had wanted to get back!

Paul, I'm with FAA and have no knowledge of any provision whereby you can have the prints shipped to you first. FAA guarantees the quality of its work. I should think they'd be reluctant to allow another step that could possibly decrease that quality if it somehow gets damaged in the course of that extra step. Add to that, the buyer has already paid for shipping and so you're going to have to ship the print to the buyer at your own expense -- which can eat up a lot of your profit if it's a large size.

I would still like to do the same thing that Bev Doolittle does on all her prints. She has the signature right on the print. Although, she, then signs the print physically, too...I don't care about signing it personally. But I do want my name on the artwork. We post all of our artwork here with a signature and copyright date. What I was asking, was if anyone puts the copyright date on FAA artwork in addition to their signature.

I still think artwork will sell with a modest signature of my name on the image. I guess, if they don't care who took the image, then they won't buy it.....
Any thoughts?

Hi Paul,

Your signature is the most valuable part of your prints. How would you like to buy an Ansel Adams that is not signed? How much do you think it would be worth?

Certainly there are ways of authenticating an unsigned piece, however it is a complicated process that involves hiring experts and spending money doing so, something unlikely to be done by buyers when you are just starting to sell your work.

So yes, sign your work! And if you sell through a channel that does not allow you to do so, find a way to sign your prints or use a different channel. It is unlikely you will sell your work for 'adequate' prices (read high prices) if it is not signed.

Alain

Thank you Alain! You have confirmed what I believe....my work should be Seen as My work. So, the digital signature stays. Bev Doolittle and all other prints that I have keep the date and copyright. I even have Artist's proofs, that have the digital signature and date on the print, then the artist's physical signature above or over it. So, I will keep all that info on my work.

That's good Lucy, but what is better is to physically sign each print. For collectors, and when assessing the value of a print, there is a huge difference between a digital signature and a physical signature. The physical signature represents a far higher value. The marketing used by Bev Doolittle works because she offers a pyramid-like approach to editioning, very much like Thomas Kinkade. So at the bottom of the pyramid are the mass produced offset prints with reproduced signatures, and at the top the originals, hand signed, paintings. Those are offered in the same channels --galleries that represent her-- and at widely different prices, from low to 'very adequate'. As such the system works like a charm and can generate millions in sales.

However, if used only in part, for example by offering only mass produced prints with reproduction signatures, or by offering the different parts of the system in different venues, you devalue your work tremendously and you lose the top audience.

Quite a few artists misunderstand the fine art selling process. As a result the only generate a low income, missing out of the high potential income that can be generated through well-marketed art.

Alain, the Ansel statement wraps it all up, awesome. Thanks!

Thank you again, Alain,
What ink do you use to sign your print? What brand, color (gold,silver) , and line width do you use, so that it looks classy and not tacky?
I did order your marketing book, which sounds like it will help me a great deal.